Improvement in needle-sharpeners



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR K. HAYNES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 104,732, dated J une28, 1870.

To all @hom it` may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR K. .HAYNEs, of

` Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State ofMassachusetts, have inventeda new and Improved Needle-Sharpener 5 and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof, sufficient to enablethose skilled in the art to make and use it, reference'being had to theaccompanying drawings and letters of reference marked thereon.

It is a wellfknown fact that the largest proportion of sewingmaehineoperatives are not able to sharpen their own needles properly, if atall; and the constant breakingot' the points of the needles is the causeot' great delay and annoyance, as the largest proportion of operativeshave to employ the services of others to` sharpen their needles, orthrow them away.

1t is to obviate this difficulty that my inven tion relates.

The nature of myinvention consists in mak-4 ing one or more `holes inthe common whetstone or emery-block or other material that may be usedto whet a needle on. 1t is preferable that the holes should be larger onone end than on the other, or, in other words,

tapering, as shown at a, Fig. 3. By making the holes quite large astraight hole would Work nearly, if not qnite,as well as a tapering one,for the incline of the needle while going around the sides ot' a largehole would give the requisite amount ot' taper. l prefer the taperinghole only on account ot being smaller, therefore making the stonecheaper.

.In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of awhetstone with three holes in it ot' different sizes. Fig.2 is a planor-top view. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the centersof the holes.

The method of operating with this needle l Sharpener is to hold a stonein one hand and the needle in the other. Place the point to be sharpenedinto the large end ofthe hole. Hold the needle rigidly between thelngers,and rub,

